Uggghhh!

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Jenna Johnstone gets Down Under on Ugg boots and uggliness.

The weather outside is frightful, but my feet are beautifully warm in my Uggs. Or perhaps warm but not so beautiful – it depends whether you love or hate those infamous Aussie sheepskins.

‘Nothing feels better or makes you feel as good as Uggs on your feet,’ claims Hannah Ward, manager of the Uggs store in Stratford. She’s hoping that this season’s sales will top the 29 per cent rise which Uggs enjoyed last winter, when her store sold 4000 pairs between mid-December and the beginning of January.

This year, Ugg Australia is on track to record sales of more than £450 million, representing 80 per cent of parent company Decker’s total full-year revenue. During extreme weather conditions at the end of last year, sales of Ugg Australia products soared despite the £210 price tag on the Ugg Classics.

Surely there’s more to all this than merely keeping your feet warm.

But Kelly Hume, editor of website Fashion East, remains unconvinced. She insists that ‘Uggs should not be worn outside the home, ever.’  Hume explained that ‘they are unflattering, unsightly and inappropriate. They are nothing more than a glorified slipper.’

Before becoming commercialised, Uggs originated as improvised boots for surfers to keep warm with after catching a cold wave. Down Under they have come to be associated with ‘bogans’ – Aussie for underclass or ‘plebs’.

Australian student Brigid O’Driscoll agreed it is impossible to wear Uggs outside the house – partly because they make your feet too hot in the Antipodean summer; also because ‘they are a slipper, and you wouldn’t wear your pyjamas outside’. She concluded that Uggs are ‘unladylike and unfashionable.’

The jury is still out on whether you should be seen out and about in them.

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